“Veiled Girl” and the eroticization of torture
Having received a number of emails and twitter DMs criticizing my eroticization of torture in my short story “Veiled Girl With Lute,” I have decided, after some thought, to address the matter specifically. If you are a regular reader on my site, this post is probably going to seem patronizing, and I apologize for that. […]
Cogito Senryus #NaPoWriMo – Day 7
I count on fingers, there is a knowing in flesh that trumps all others. Time demands of us the return of all its gifts like angry lovers. Words are not like knives Just abstract signifiers Only knives are knives.
But Not Me #NaPoWriMo – Day 6
I know you are sated the switch is flipped the power off but not for me. Bullets in the chamber breathlessly loaded spent in a moment but not in me. The savage hands like forked tongues leave their marks but not on me. Stuttered obscenities skipped across glass spoken under skin but not to me.
The Mystery of the Pink Ribbon #sinfulsunday
This pink ribbon has a story but I do not know it. Which, of course, means it’s a disclipline to wait, impatiently, for the story. Please visit Molly’s Daily Kiss and the other #sinfulsunday entries.
Drive
That night in June, pressed by acceleration into the cream leather seat of Mick’s Citroen, there was nowhere beyond our reach. The wheels ate up the twisting coastal road and shat out strange Norwegian jazz all the way to Valencia. By dawn we were silent and halfway to Barcelona. I still had sand between my […]
My Problem(s) with Feminism
First, I’d like to say that by the very simplest definition of the term, I am a feminist. I believe, fundamentally, in the equality of the sexes. I don’t deny that there are both physical and cultural differences between men and women, I just believe that society is a much more stable place when we […]
A Writer’s Obligations
I’ve had a marvelous and vibrant discussion on Twitter with a whole raft of writers on what it means to be a writer, and what a writer’s obligation is. I think there are some things that all of us, who care about what we write agree on. However, this is my list of a writer’s […]
Villains in Leather: Negative Portrayals of Kink in Fiction
It has been a few weeks of strenuous debate on the net about kink and how it’s portrayed in the media. Meghan Murphy (Rabble.ca) and William Saletan (Slate), who both have a large mainstream reading audience, wrote posts exhibiting a basic lack of understanding about kink and BDSM. They each, in their way, made exaggerated […]
“What’s With The Needles?”: The Origin of Desire & The Fall
I got an email today. All it said is: “What’s with the needles?” Yup, that’s all. With a fake return address. And since I take questions seriously, because they afford me some opportunity for reflection, I’m going answer it publicly. I gather it was actually an expression of disgust at story I recently posted called […]
Entry Points: Ways into a Story
“A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.” The End of the Affair, by Graham Greene I’ve been thinking a lot recently about linearity and the different points of entry into a story. We experience time in a […]